To echo others and to quote a well-resepected furniture conservator who serves on my curatorial committee: "Wood is dead, it doesn't need fed." Unfortunately, this seems to be a common misconception about wood and advertisements for Pledge and Old English furniture polishes don't help by telling you to feed the wood - and their product is the best way to do that. Basically most of these polishes and oils create more of a problem than they solve as they actually will build up and hold dust and dirt to the finish. Why does the volunteer think the wood needs to be fed? Does it look hungry (just kidding) but does it look like it is dry or has a dull finish? Depending on the item and the original finish, some things could be waxed with microcrystilline wax. But even objects that are waxed, if they are not handled much, should only be waxed once a year at best, to prevent build up. If it is something that is handled, even with gloves, then you may want to wax it more often since touching the service will wear off the wax sooner. But before you do anything like that you should consult a conservator. You can also explain the best way to take care of wooden artifacts is to keep them in a temperture and humidity controlled environment - 70 degrees/50%humidity is the general rule of thumb. That way they are neither too dry which could cause loosening of joints and possibly a dry appearance, or two wet which would cause swelling and cracking of veneers and panels and possibly a hazy appearence to the finish. Heidi Campbell-Shoaf Curator Historical Society of Frederick County 24 E. Church St. Frederick, MD 21718 [log in to unmask] ----- Original Message ----- From: "Erin Quinn" <[log in to unmask]> To: <[log in to unmask]> Sent: Monday, May 17, 2004 11:32 AM Subject: Feeding Wood I have a volunteer who insists that we should be "feeding" our wood with linseed and/or orange oil. I know that this is not the correct thing to do but have yet to say anything that convinces him. Any suggestions for a tactful way to tell him this is not the best thing for the wood? Erin ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes). ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).